More of Us
by Kirbopher
Summary: So, I used to be loyal to the Tallest. Then I almost out-classed the invaders, which they don't like because of the whole control brain thing and the assignment stuff, so they tried to have me killed. That was fun right? It got a little less fun when they destroyed my ship and killed my crew, but you know, life. Now people call me a Drifter, and guess what! There's more of us.
1. Held Together With Ducktape

I grunted, wiping the grease from my face.

_Whatever idiot assigned only one engineer to my ship is a dead irken!_

"Alright, status report people!" I shouted into my communicator.

"I finally got steering back online."

"We successfully patched the hull."

"Navigation systems are still a bit fuzzy."

"..."

"Zark!" I snapped into the communicator

"..."

"..."

"Ugh!"

"Zark, status report!"

"The left engine is pretty much toast, and I don't have enough supplies to make a permanent fix here."

"Well than, PATCH IT! I want a functional ship, three hours ago!"

I shook my head in disgust, heading up the steps to my ships airlock. I glanced at a silver scar running along the side of her hull. It truly was a pity, The Veil was gorgeous when I was first given her.

"Well, I broke your only rule," I chuckled, remembering when I was first named captain.

_"Now, I worked hard on her, so don't you dare scratch the paint."_

_"Fez, have you met me? I'm only the best pilot in the irken army."_

_"So you keep reminding me. Be careful kid."_

I was jolted from my flashback by an annoying buzzing sound.

Snatching up my communicator, I snapped a short, "What!"

"I've finished up the patch, sir." Zark replied, timidly.

"Well, it's about time! Clear out and report to your quarters."

"Give me three minutes, I want to check something out."

"You only have three minutes, otherwise we're flying off without you."

"Understood."

I entered my ship and was almost bowled over by a small flying ball.

"Stupid repair drone." I grunted.

The thing was completely useless, and it never fixed anything. In fact, it was the whole reason The Veil had stopped at this station. The crazy thing had crashed into the power core and caused a temporary loss of power. It was just long enough for the Gluginns to locate us and attack. We survived but just barely.

As I stepped forward onto the walk I heard a soft clanging sound. The sound of someone running. I quickly dodged to the side as an irken, a little bit shorter than me, barreled past.

"I got it!" The irken yelled, attempting to jump onto the repair drone.

As he landed on it, it whizzed to the side, smashing into the wall, and sending him sprawling.

"Need a hand?"

"Captain!" The irken jumped up and attempted to stand at attention.

I bit my knuckle, resisting the urge to laugh. Standing at attention in front of me was an irken in civilian clothing, wearing a pair of enormous goggles which were currently lopsided from his recent crash to the ground. It wasn't often you saw a defect on an Armada ship, but this particular defect was incredibly useful. A defect was an irken the control brains didn't place into a job. They had no P. and were generally considered useless. This defect however was the only non-factory irken who knew how to program, at least that I knew of.

"Let me help you with that," I stepped forward and re-adjusted his goggles, so they sat firmly on his big, purple, eyes.

"Sorry about the drone, I was uploading the kill code, but I accidentally uploaded one of my music files instead," The irken looked sheepishly at his feet.

"Don't worry about it."

"Really?"

"Really."

I stepped forward, when suddenly a stream of sparks appeared farther down the hall.

"I should probably catch it before it destroys the ship," The irken said, turning and running down the hall.

"Hey Trak!"

"Yeah, Xythe?"

"Good luck."

"Thanks _captain_"

I couldn't be sure but I thought he winked at me. Turning around I began my brisk walk towards the bridge. It was launch time. I listened to the familiar whoosh as the doors opened.

"Captain on the bridge!"

"Thank you, Ada, for that thrilling introduction."

"I don't like sarcasm captain."

"I know Ada, I know."

The bridge consisted of ten stations. The four in the back were maintenance stations. The pair on the right for the right engine, and the one on the left for the left engine. The station to the front right was navigation's, and the one on the left was weapons and communications. Finally, in the center was mine. The captains throne was where the thrust, power use, and steering was controlled. The ship could also be auto piloted to a specific set of coordinates via the navigation panel.

"Alright, Ada, initiate de-docking procedures," I ordered, sinking into the captains chair.

"Yes, sir!"

"Alright people. We finally got the ship up and running again, so give yourself a great big pat on the back." I glanced around at my deck crew, glad to finally be back in the chair.

"All crew accounted for captain!" Ada shouted from her station.

"Nav, activate launching sequence."

"Yessir!"

With a gentle rumble the ship lifted a foot off the ground, and the bracing clamps disconnected. Grabbing the throttle, I gently eased it up, giving us just enough speed to clear the station.

"Tonn."

"Yes sir?"

"I wish to speak to the maintenance crew."

"Activating speakers now. Sir, your live."

"Hello everyone, and welcome to day one hundred and twenty five on the Veils two year mission to scout out new planets to conquer. We are spending a lot of time outside of irken boarders. If you get homesick at any time... Our ship therapist will help you. If you haven't met her already... Nav, a few words."

"Yes captain! Hello everybody, I'm Nav, Navigations expert and ship therapist. We will be going through some hard times these next few years, so please feel free to meet me in my quarters any time you would like to talk."

"Thank you, Nav, for offering your serv..."

"Sir, asteroid field ahead, and we're coming up on it fast." Nav interrupted me.

I grab the controls as I had grabbed them in the same situation, millions of times before. I deftly twist the joystick to neatly dodge the first large asteroid. The ship tilts and then continues.

"Ada, Craz, what's going on!"

"I'm fine on my side, sir," Ada replies.

"Craz!"

"There appears to be something caught in the right engine, sir," Craz glanced up at me, worry in his eyes, "Sir, I am so sorry, it didn't show up on my reading before."

"It's fine Craz, I'm sure Zark's faulty patch just came loose. Tonn, give me a direct link to Zark's quarters."

"Linking now."

"Zark, please head to the airlock to do some emergency repair on the right engine before we collide with an asteroid."

"_tzzzzzt._"

"Zar-" I'm cut of as we smash into the first asteroid, and the ship violently lurches into another.

I sprawl out of my chair and crash into Tonn, who was desperately trying to right himself. All the lights turned red as we hit another asteroid.

"Sir, the ship can't take much more of this!" Ada exclaimed as we hit another asteroid.

The ship stopped shaking.

"Are we through it?" Tonn asked timidly.

"Negative, we just happened on a pocket," Nav replied, examining the navigations computer.

"Status report!" I snap out.

"Sir, Craz is shaking something nasty, and there's blood all over the floor. I can't figure out what's bleeding!" Ada replied.

"Tonn, get the medical kit and treat Craz. Nav, Ada, search the ship for anyone else who's injured." I stood up and started walking towards the door.

"What about you sir?" Nav asked.

"I'm going out there to remove what ever is stuck in the engine."

Nav glanced down at her feet. We both knew it was a suicide mission. When the doors closed I knew they were all mourning my death.

"_Crackle..._All non-crucial personal report to the bridge for a head count," Tonn's voice rattled over the loud speaker.

"Xythe!"

I ignored the voice.

"Xythe!" Trak yelled running down the hallway towards me.

"Trak, thank Nob your ok!"

" I was just about to say the same thing to you."

"You should head to the bridge, they're doing a head count."

"Yeah, I was on my way right now. You?"

"I'm going to try to fix this mess."

"How?"

"There's something stuck in the engine..."

Trak's face paled, "You can't, even if you manage to get to the engine alive, the chances of you surviving the trip back is nil."

"If I don't try we will all die."

"For luck?" Trak stood up on his toes.

I placed my hand on his lips, "Let's deal with that after I get back."

I brushed past him before he could object. Walking down the hall, I began to regret stopping him. This was probably the last time I would ever see him. I pushed all doubt from my mind as I reached the airlock.

"2-6-4-8-3," A hidden closet slid open, revealing three space suits. I grabbed the closest one and quickly pulled it over my irken uniform.

I stepped into the airlock, when suddenly the ship jolted again. I slipped and hit my head on one of the pipes. Reaching up I felt warm blood squeezing through my fingers. I dropped the helmet over my head, hearing a familiar hiss as the suit pressurized.

_This is it. Time to save lives._

With that last thought, I stepped over the threshold and felt a small tug as zero gravity took over. I extended my P.A.K's and gripped the side of The Veil tightly.

_Remember, P.A.K failure means death. Step, step, step, step, step, DUCK!_

I pulled myself closer to the hull, narrowly dodging an asteroid. I arrived at the right engine without another incident, and pulled open the maintenance hatch.

"Well, that was easy."

I dropped in, and turned on the maintenance lights. Frowning, I flicked the switch again. Nothing.

"That's fine, I don't need lights, I'll recognize the faulty patch from miles away."

I pulled myself closer to the engine, squinting in the dark. After what seemed like hours I located the patch.

"That's weird, it seems to be in perfect position?"

I turned around, and floated straight into a face dangling from above.

"Aaaaugh. A-a-a-a-ahhh!"

Dangling in front of me was half of Zark's body, horribly charred, and near un-recognizable. His skin glistened wherever a patch of muscle had not been burnt. I bit back a gag. Carefully I removed his body from the gears, coating my suit in his charred flesh. A shadow blocked out the little light I had. I whirled around to see Ada standing at the maintenance hatch.

"Ada, you scared me! Why are you here?"

"It's a pity really, I had everything set up nicely. The engines would explode, causing the power core to overheat. The ship, and it's crew would be destroyed in the explosion. But Zark here," She gestured at the body I held in my hands, "Located one of the charges I had placed, so I killed him. Now it's your turn."

With that she turned around, placing a P.A.K leg on the hatch. I lunged forward, and the hatch closed.


	2. Just One Drink

I bit back a scream until I was sure Ada had left. Gingerly I lifted open the maintenance hatch, and examined my fingers. The pain told me they were all broken.

"Aaaa-aaa-aah," I whimpered.

I haphazardly discarded Zark's body into space. Then the engine began to hum.

"Holy shit!"

I leapt out of the engine, flew several hundred yards, and connected with a small asteroid.

"Ow."

I glanced back as my ship began to fly off without me. Then to my horror, the engines exploded, causing my beautiful ship to be encompassed in flames. I shielded my eyes from the light as the ship exploded. I knew there were no survivors.

"I failed you Fez."

With that last thought I leapt from the asteroid to the next, getting farther and farther from the smoking remains of my ship.

_"Hey kid."_

_"Fez, don't call me kid."_

_"Why not?"_

_"It's demeaning."_

_"Is it really?"_

_"Yes."_

_"You'll understand when your my age."_

_"Understand what?"_

_"You'll know what when you get there."_

_"So, how's the ship going?"_

_"The Veil?"_

_"Yes"_

_"It's going well, we're supposed to get the engines in next week."_

_I shivered._

_"Something wrong, kid?"_

_"When I was given my first ship, I had nightmares about getting trapped in the engine during launch."_

_"That will never happen, unless someone pushes you."_

_"Fez?"_

_"Yeah."_

_"My names Xythe."_

_"I know kid, I know."_

_"If you know my name, why do you call me kid?"_

_"Haven't we been over this already?"_

I blinked rapidly, as tears began to form in my eyes.

"You won't cry. Absolutely not," I scolded myself, shaking my head in disgust.

It was not fit for an irken to cry, especially over war casualties. But this thought only fueled more memories to emerge from their hiding places.

_"You should have seen the look on Craz's face when Xythe tagged him!" Tonn laughed._

_"It was really nothing," I_ _said, embarrassed by the attention._

_"But, I mean a pilot, took out a soldier in a blaster battle. What are the chances."_

_"I got lucky."_

_"You earned that shot," Craz grunted._

_"Why must you go on and on about this. Who cares who shot who. It will change tomorrow," Ada shook her head._

_"Thank you," I reply gratefully._

_"And you!"_

_"Me?"_

_"Accept the fame, Xythe, what you did was really impressive," Ada glared at me._

_Together the table shared a collective laugh. Then I noticed the man in the corner of the cafeteria. Out of all the irkens in the room he was staring at me._

_"Hey, guys, I'm going to be right back."_

_"Is something wrong, Xythe?" Nav asked, leaning closer._

_"I'm sure everything's fine."_

_I walked across the room and greeted the stranger._

_"Are you Xythe?"_

_"You know I am."_

_"I'm afraid I bring bad news."_

_"What?"_

_"The programmer aboard your vessel."_

_"Fez?"_

_"I believe so yes."_

_"What about him?"_

_"His body was found in the mining district. He appeared to have been shot with a mining laser."_

"Ugh!"

I'm jolted back from my flashback as I crashed into an asteroid.

_Stupid. I should be paying more attention._

I pulled my face from the asteroid. I quickly checked my suit for damage. At that moment, the asteroid was split in half by a strange light.

"Aaaah ahhha ahhh!"

A strange blockish space craft whizzed by, taking my asteroid with it.

_Since when do ships not have cockpits?_

Then it hit me: They weren't ships, they were drone's.

_But what are drones doing out here?_

A loud beeping interrupted my thought. I glanced down and saw that my suit was losing pressure!

"You have got to be kidding me!"

_Ok, I don't have time to for this. Think... think... think. Those drones have to come from somewhere, right? It might not be somewhere friendly, but it is somewhere with oxygen.  
_

I pulled myself closer to one of the asteroids nearby and waited. Sure enough, another drone came by to slice up my shelter, but this time I was ready. I leapt from the asteroid to the drone, grabbing tightly to it's metal surface. Unfortunately, I misjudged my momentum, lost my grip and soared off into space.

"Crap, crap, crap!" I screamed, panicking and wheeling my arms wildly, "OW!"

I smashed into another drone.

"That was lucky."

I didn't celebrate for long, my suit was now at 50% pressure. Holding tightly to the drones surface, I quickly ran the chances of survival through my head. They were 5%. The drone began moving. I felt a small tug as my body adjusted to the drones speed. Standing I examine my surroundings.

_It seems like any other asteroid field? Why would drones be mining here?_

At that moment a massive asteroid came into view. But unlike other asteroids it was flat on one side, oh and it also had a space station on top, built entirely from Galactic War II ships. As I marveled at the massive pile of bolts, I felt a strange sensation under my feet. Looking down I realized that the drone had turned and I was now floating through space at incredible speeds, as if I were standing on the bridge of a battle ship.

"Well, this is awkward."

I began to flail my arms in an attempt to slow myself down, only to remember that there was no air in space. Which meant no air resistance.

"Aaaaaaaa-"

I was harshly cut off as I smashed into a large window on the side of the asteroid.

_Great. Now I have an affinity for smashing into stuff, _I thought dryly, using my P. to walk down the glass window.

I located a small airlock next to the window. I quickly opened it, glancing nervously at my pressure, which blinked 8%.

"That was too close."

"You there! You can't be in here! That is a service hatch only!" A voice shouted across the room, as a figure started to run towards me.

"Um," I started lamely.

The figure stopped in front of me, eying my uniform nervously.

"No citizen is permitted to access these hatches."

"Look, I had a really bad day, can you just direct me to the nearest bar in this trash heap."

"Who are you?"

"I am Xythe! Best pilot in the irken army. I have the proud position of captain aboard The Veil, a class three vessel."

"I'm sorry, but folks here don't like irkens, especially those in uniform."

"Can I at least have a drink before you throw me off this rock?"

The figure looked around nervously, "Are you going to call in the armada?"

"No, I don't even have that kind of authority. Actually, I'm not sure I have any authority anymore, considering the Tallest may have just tried to kill me and all."

The figures face brightened, "Oh, in that case welcome to Sector."

"Sector what?"

"The name of the station, it's Sector."

"Oh. Why are you suddenly so welcoming?"

"All drifters are welcome at a drifter colony of course."

"A what now?"

"A drifter, it's a term for someone who has been ostracized my their government."

"And by ostracized you mean banished, or victim of an assassination attempt?"

"If you must use such strong words. Well actually yes."

"Look, buddy, can we save the welcoming party for later. Right now I just want a drink."

"If it's a bar you need, than there ain't one better than Caen's Place."

"And that would be, where exactly?"

"Just go the the elevator, sixteenth floor. Caen owns the entire floor."

"Thanks."

I walked away before he could say "Your welcome." I just needed some time alone to drown my sorrows in alcohol. I walked up to the elevator, and stepped in, pushing the button for Level Sixteen. Bad elevator music started playing, and I finally lost control of my emotions. My shoulders sagged, and my head drooped. Then I collapsed to the floor and cried the entire way up. The doors opened with a ding, and I wiped the tears from my eyes. I walked across the crowded room and sat down on the bar stool closest to the wall. A rather fat gluginn walked up to me, wiping the counter as he walked.

"Welcome to Caen's"

I ignored him.

"I'm Caen, the owner of this fine establishment."

I suddenly became very interested in a ring stain on the counter.

"Bad day huh?"

I glanced up at him.

"I've got just the thing for that," He grabbed what looked like a primitive communicator from his greasy apron, "May, can you please fix this nice gentleirken a meds special.

"What's-"

"Meds? It's just a little more braincells lost, if you ask me. It's truly a great depression medicine. That's why it's called meds."

The so called "May" arrived shortly, wearing the skimpiest outfit I've ever seen. Some whistling went up in the back. She handed me a mug, with a strange green liquid in it.

"Don't worry- it's good," She said walking away.

I swore she winked at me, which for some reason made me feel incredibly violated. I took a sip from the mug, and felt a burning sensation as the alcohol made it's way to my stomach.

"Aaah, just what I need."

"I knew you would like it." Caen said, wandering off to treat other customers.

I took a long stare into the mug of liquid. A vortian sat down next to me, facing away from the counter.

He looked over at me and said, "I like an irken in uniform."

I stared back into my mug.

"You don't need to talk, your muscles say it all."

I continued to ignore him.

"I'm Benzi, you can call me Zi for short, but never Ben."

He was clearly frustrated. He pulled the bar stool closer to me and began to stroke my arm. I snapped.

"You are an insensitive, filthy, prick. Everyone I love is dead, because of the government I believed in! Can't I go five minutes without someone hitting on me!"

I realized that the entire bar was silent.

"Mind your own business!" the music started up again.

"Wow."

I glared at him.

"All jokes aside, that was HOT."

I clenched my fist.

"Look, I understand what your going through. Everyone in this room has been there, done that."

I sat down.

"But trust me, alcohol is not the best way to deal with it. If you finish that drink, you'll become a slathering drunk, who tries to take advantage of complete strangers."

I looked at him.

"Then, when you look in a mirror, all you see is a shriveled shell of your former self. You will never forgive yourself."

He looked like he was on the brink of tears. He threw some money on the counter, and grabbed my hand.

"You don't want to start your new life in a place like this, come with me."

I stood up and let him drag me towards the elevator. What happened after that had a dream like quality to it. We traveled down the elevator and he took me through a maze of spacecraft, that eventually led to a slightly newer piece of the station. In the center, was a dome, with a fountain that shot water all the way up to the top of the dome.

I vaguely remember asking him, "How?"

He said it had to do something with how little gravity there was here.

Then I remember my vision sharpened, as I neared the fountain. I vomited into it, and fainted, falling with a splash into the fountain.


	3. Bliss

I opened my eyes a slit, and saw a blurry face above me.

"Fez, five more minutes."

Murmuring began above me.

"Just, go away."

I rolled over, and tumbled off my cot, landing with a splash in something wet. With a start I sat up, and my vision cleared. I was sitting in a fountain, under new surroundings I did not recognize.

"Let me help you." a voice said from above.

I glanced over and saw a vortian leaning over the fountain, worry in his eyes. With a shiver I remembered everything. The explosion, space and this vortian, Benzi I thought it was.

"Hi," I said with a groan.

"Hi," He replied, reaching down into the water and lifting me out of it.

"Uuungh."

"Sorry, I'm more used to carrying drunks."

"Thanks."

"For what?"

"Pulling me away from that drink. I don't know if I would still be alive if not for you."

"Oh, you're not sick from the drink."

"Huh?"

"I have a sneaking suspicion, but I need to know exactly how you came to be here."

I told him everything.

"Alright, list your symptoms."

"Nausea, weakness, shoulder pain."

"Hmm."

"What?"

"I think it's time I took you to a professional in the medical field."

"What's wrong with me?"

"I'm not sure, but you might have decompression sickness."

"Oh god," I felt even sicker.

"It's fine."

"I'm going to die, aren't I."

"No, I'm sure we have an outcast doctor somewhere on this station."

"Do you actually know?"

There was a silence.

"Do you know of any doctors on Sector."

"No."

I vomited over his arms onto the concrete.

"Are you okay?"

"I don't know. I just learned that I have a deadly sickness, and there is no one here who can help me."

Zi sat down, cocking my head up. He situated my antennae, taking particular care of my injured one.

"It's going to be fine." He whispered.

The last thing I remembered before falling asleep was the worry in Zi's eyes.

I remembered waking once, to see Zi's face above me.

"Where are we?"

"Shh. Sleep now."

I glanced over his arm and saw that we were on a roof of some sort. He leapt onto another.

"Why-" I never got to finish my sentence, because at that moment I fainted again.

What felt like ages later, I awoke to something cold being pressed on my face.

"Thank god! I thought I lost you that time."

"Huh?"

"You've been on and off sleep for a while now, and a few minutes ago you started screaming. When you stopped, I assumed the worst."

I pulled the blanket tighter around my cold skin. Then with a start, I realized I wasn't wearing my shirt.

I remembered something Zi had said earlier, _"... tries to take advantage of complete strangers."_

I knew he was talking about himself, but I didn't realize-. I sat up, and immediately vomited on the floor, hurling multiple times before I could speak.

"Easy, don't move too much," Zi tried to lay me back down.

With vomit in my mouth, I spat on him, "You sick bastard!"

"What's wrong?"

"You tricked me! First you drugged me and then you carried me to your-" He cut me off.

"I thought we had an understanding?"

"An understanding!"

"You scream at me, and I help you not become me!"

"Then where is my shirt!"

"It had vomit on it, so I thought I was doing you a favor."

"Oh. I am so sorry."

"It's fine, you were delirious before, and you were probably just a little confused."

"I was being horrible. It's in my training to contain all emotions under any circumstances, and to never jump to conclusions."

"Why do you talk like that?"

"Like what?"

"You talk like a military irken. You aren't part of them anymore."

"I guess it's because it's all I know."

"If you ever come up with a better answer, let me know."

"If I live that long."

"You'll be fine."

"If I'm lucky."

"You will be."

"Four hundred years in space and we still don't know how to cure decompression sickness!"

"That's not _entirely _true."

I looked at him, cocking my head slightly in confusion.

"Well, the irkens, and the vortians, might not have a cure, but humans might."

"What is a human? Sounds filthy."

"They are an under advanced race. Most do not know of them, but drifters have a colony on their home world."

Before he could continue, I vomited over the bed, and rolled of it, falling to the floor with a crash.

"Are you alright!" He snapped.

I vomited, and then mustered a weak, "Wa-er"

"War?"

"No, -ater."

"I'm sorry, but I can't understand you."

"wa-ter."

"Oh sure," He stood up and left the cluttered room.

As he opened the door I caught a glimpse of other buildings. Confused, I crawled to the door, and pushed it open. I saw that this wasn't a room, it was the entire building, and it was precariously perched on top of another building. That explained the roof jumping. I pulled myself back towards where he had left me, and heard glass crack under my knee.

"Shit."

I pulled the broken frame from under my knee, and carefully pulled the picture out of the shattered glass. It depicted two vortians. One, obviously Zi, was gazing longingly at the other one. The other vortian was kicking his leg up and laughing madly at the sky. I noticed that Zi looked less, heavy, in the picture. Even when I'd seen him smile, there was always a weight about him. I heard footsteps and pushed the glass under a collapsing set of drawers, folded the picture, and hid it under my belt.

"I got water! Maybe?" Zi pushed the door open, holding a glass triumphantly.

"Thanks," I reached for the glass, and a shooting pain in my shoulder went through my body. I collapsed on the floor.

"Easy, extreme pain in joints is a symptom of DCS."

Zi walked up behind me, and sat cross legged on the floor, lifting my body so I was laying across his lap, and against his chest, so I was almost in a sitting position. He put the glass to my lips and poured. Aaaw, sweet relief, the water washed away much of the stomach acid that was caught in my throat. I moved my shoulders a little and squirmed into a more comfortable position. I sighed.

_What was I doing. I couldn't afford to make friends, or become even a little comfortable around anyone. The tallest will attack again and anyone that is close to me will die._

At that thought, I did something I never did, for the second time that day. I cried.

And as I cried, Zi began to sing: _"If there ever was a day to cry. Let those tears flow down and down. If there ever was a day to cry. Life is hard, life is cruel. If there was ever a day to cry..._

I sniffled, and immediately felt embarrassed.

"I know life is hard," Zi picked me up and laid me back in the bed, "but, it's only a matter of time before everything seems right again, even though we may never forget those we lost."

He leaned forward, and reached down, plucking the photo from my belt. The moment was almost happy.

But then I started screaming. The pain coursed all through my body, and I arched my back in agony.

I vaguely heard Zi in the background, "Oh my-"

"This is reall-"

"-do I do?!"

Black spots began to blink around my eyes.

"Aaaaaaaah!" I screamed, rolling to my side and spitting on the floor.

The pain continued it's triumphant waltz through my body. I reached the point where I could no longer scream, and I laid there, on the bed, twitching, spittle forming on my lips.

"Caen-favor-get here-hurry-might not have-time."

I gave into the pain, and numbness washed over me as the room turned black.

_"Hey, kiddo, wake up."_

_"Fez?"_

_"It's time to wake up."_

_"I'm so cold."_

_"I know, but it's not your time yet kid."_

_"Was it your time?"_

_"Yes"_

_I closed my eyes, rolling my head back. Suddenly I had the sensation of falling._

"HUUUH!" I sat up.

I saw Zi slumped up against the dresser, fast asleep.

"You had us worried," said a voice to my right.

"Who-"

"Shh. Don't fret, your going to be fine."

The voice stepped forward into the light, spitting out a cigar as he walked towards the bed.

"Hey, you're the bartender," I laid down.

"Indeed I am."

I found that every muscle in my body was exhausted. Caen's face became blurred as I let myself be pulled into the comfort of dreamless sleep.

"Are you sure this will work?"

"It should."

"Will he live that long?"

I was pulled from sleep by muttered talking above me. I opened my eyes to the most un-holy thing I had ever seen: A fat gluginn's behind. A hand reached back and scratched the filthy thing. I grunted.

"Ah, look!"

"You has us go-"

"But we kne-"

"Of course."

I laid my head back and groaned.

"Too much-noise."

"Sorry."

"What were you talking about?"

"Something we think can save you."

"Won't I just get better over time?"

"Actually..." Zi looked at his feet sheepishly.

"What?"

"I just told you that you would be fine, but you are very much sick. We can't tell for sure."

"You told me I would be lucky."

"I lied. I've dealt with decompression sickness before," Zi pulled the photo from his pocket and gestured at it.

"Oh, god, I'm so sorry."

"I'll be fine as long as we prevent the same thing from happening to you."

"How exactly are we planning on doing that?"

"A human design, called a re-compression tank. They aren't near as advanced as us, but they actually figured out a method that _might_ fix decompression sickness," The bartender said, stepping forward.

"I'm no expert, but a re-compression tank, whatever that is, sounds like something that won't be easy to build."

"It won't be, but Caen here has a pod that might serve as a base for it," Zi said, smiling.

"Right. What other supplies will we need?"

"_We,_ don't need anything. Caen and I will handle it. You just sit there and look pretty, which obviously comes naturally to you."

"But!"

"But nothing! You can't always be the big strong irken."

I mumbled, and rolled onto my stomach. I was quickly lulled into a restless sleep. I awoke with a start, it was freezing! The lights of the station were out, so I assumed it was night. I heard a faint breathing sound behind me. I turned and saw Zi's back, as he snored peacefully next to me.

_Oh, there's only one bed._

I grabbed my shoulders and shivered. I never got my shirt back, and the thin blanket wasn't doing a thing for the cold. I rolled over and wrapped my arms around Zi, not thinking about what I was doing. I was so tired.

_Bliss._


End file.
